We’re back from a very successful 3 days at KM Conference 2002 in Sydney. The key points from this Knowledge management themed conference for me were:
- stronger focus on culture and community
- new and useful terms such as mediate, flow and hijack
- less corporate, more personal care
Introduction
The Knowledge Management 2002 Conference was held in Sydney, Australia over August 7–9. I attended with Alan Silcock and approximately 100 other delegates over the three days to hear some great speakers and new ideas in the field of knowledge management.
Speakers#
The conference attracted some high quality speakers from both the public and military sectors. Each clearly had a real grasp of knowledge management and its implications in an organisation. Although little was said about the value of knowledge management, there was a lot on the practice of integration into a firm. Some of the specific ideas that caught my hearing were:
- Culture is not simply business or organisation culture, but country, demographic and historical as well. Prof. Bill Ford raised this. He had recognised that culture is one of the strongest inhibitors of knowledge management. It was also great to hear how building design can have an effect, forcing people into knowledge sharing situations, especially from the designer of the building we were in (Dockside on Cockle Bay, Sydney).
- The concept of mitigated flow between knowledge workers. At Thought Horizon we believe knowledge is what you know and is tempered by your experiences. Therefore, it is impossible to transfer or share knowledge. Dr Robert Neilsen’s ideas of a mitigated flow, help to explain how this might be facilitated.
- Templates are not the answer. Dr Maris O’Rourke spoke of her experience with the World Bank and how the good work she had completed as Director of Education fitted her team well, but did not translate as a template to the organisation as a whole. Nor should it, but people will try so be on the lookout.
- Is there a digital divide? According to Senator Kate Lundy there certainly is. Yet we had heard discussion earlier in the day about how technology accounts for just 10% of any knowledge management solution. This was backed my the day’s discussion on matters other than technology. In a chat afterwards I asked the question on how do we bridge knowledge in a community, irrespective of technology. As yet there is no answer but something for us all to work upon.
- After the technology goes in, is it still the same? David Wennegren joined us from the US Navy via phone linkup to share some of there stories on implementing knowledge management.
- Just do it. Les Pickett suggested the Nike approach to knowledge management. Do it and do it fast, otherwise the world will have moved on by.
- Communities of Practice are important. We all knew this, but William Bennet of the FERC in the US has done it successfully across industry.
- Tie KM to the Business Plan. Seemingly simple advice from Marie O’Brien and Thomas Cosgrove but who does it? We all need to, especially when face with the Year 2 question of “So what did you do?”
- ”I think Knowledge Management is a dead-end”. Bravest speaker award goes to Patrick Callioni and his comments on knowledge management. I agree with him. At one level it is all about being human again.
My Reflections
The conference was a great place for me to test and validate my learnings on knowledge management. It was interesting to see the different approaches from delegates reflecting where they are in the knowledge management journey, for a journey it is. Knowledge Management roles lead to an understanding of knowledge and then of learning. Patrick Callioni’s comments at the end of the conference reflected this journey. For me, knowledge management is about individual learning, that is, learning how to be the best we can. And not in just the corporate world either. As I discussed in the Open Space session, “Why not a knowledge-centric life?”. I left the conference with a strong sense that knowledge management is not about knowledge or the management thereof. It is about giving at a level where you truly care for the other person. Share without prejudice and learn from one another.